TWS member Wendi Weber, northeast regional director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, received the 2018 Robert McDowell Award for Conservation Management Excellence from the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. “She is making a difference for fish and wildlife, she is making a difference for outdoor enthusiasts, she is making a difference for our country’s natural heritage,” James Connolly, the association’s president, said in presenting her the award. Weber was recognized for leading coastal restoration after Hurricane Sandy, restoring the damaged White River National Fish Hatchery after Hurricane Irene and conserving the New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis). “In this digital age, more and more people are disconnected from nature,” Weber told the Hampshire Daily Telegraph. “That’s why it is so vitally important that we manage our public lands not only for wildlife but for people.”